Spencer's Point of View
"I had fun this morning, Dr. Reid," Leah admitted sheepishly, sipping her coffee delicately. "You surprised me a lot."
"Oh?" I liked the way she said that. "How so?"
The diner that she had picked out was quiet. The breakfast rush had already ended, and there was just one other patron eating pancakes at the counter. Leah seemed to think it over, taking a piece of toast off her plate and taking a large bite of it.
"Hmm," she said while chewing, looking almost puzzled, "I don't know. I just expected you to be different."
"Different?"
"Yeah. More tough-guy, I guess. I don't know. You're really nice," she explained, tilting her head to one side and twirling her toast between her fingers absentmindedly. "Can I call you Spencer? Would that be weird?"
"No, that's okay. You can, uh, you can call me Spencer. It's not weird," I lied, feeling as though my insides had turned to mush. I was already calling her Leah, why should it be weird for her to call me Spencer? Because no one calls you Spencer, I thought, frowning slightly. Even the team call you Reid off-duty, minus JJ.
"Are you alright?" asked Leah, her expression changing from one of ease to one of worry. "You look kind of... ill."
"Oh, no, I'm fine," I said, quickly plastering on a smile, "I just uh... zoned out there, for a moment."
"That happens a lot, huh?" She popped the last bite of her toast into her mouth and pushed her plate to one side. "Seems every time I talk to you, you get really distracted. Am I really that boring?" She sounded a little sarcastic.
"You're not... you're not boring. I'm just..." I paused. What was I?
"You're just complicated? Thoughtful?"
"Yeah. Something like that." The waitress noticed that our plates were empty and made her way over to our table, holding the cheque.
"Will that be everything?" she asked politely. I noticed she smiled at me a lot, and bent over just a little too far when she put the cheque down on the table, giving me an uncomfortable view down the front of her blouse.
"Um, yes."
"Then I'll be right back." She sauntered off, moving very fluidly. I turned away to look at Leah when I heard her laugh quietly.
"What's so funny?" I asked, smiling.
"What, you didn't see that? She was all over you! A tip monger, I imagine. She thinks you're paying." She snatched the cheque and began to riffle through her purse. I frowned. It wasn't polite to let the lady pay. That wasn't the way a date worked.
"No, I'll pay." I took the cheque from her and took my own wallet from my breast pocket to count out the right amount of bills. She made a face.
"I said I'd take you to breakfast. That means I pay." She put on a pout and crossed her arms childishly. I found it rather cute the way she was defending herself.
"It's not that much. I don't mind." It really was just change, including the tip. "It'd be rude for me to let the lady pay." I cursed myself. Did that sound sexist? But she just laughed and uncrossed her arms.
"Ah, and they say that chivalry has died! You know, I've never met anyone quite like you," she laughed, her eyes sparkling. Well, at least I'd done something right.
"I've never met anyone like you either," I replied truthfully, putting away my wallet and placing the cheque at the edge of the table for the waitress to pick up.
"You meet people like me every day, don't you?" She put her purse over her shoulder and got up from her chair, tucking it under the table. I got up after her, somewhat speechless. "I mean, isn't that your job?"
"I— what do you mean?"
"Victims. You meet them all the time. I'm not special. I'm just... damaged."
"I wasn't thinking about that, actually." I put my hand in the small of her back and lead her out of the diner. She'd wrapped her arms around herself, probably because she felt insecure. She looked up at me, wide-eyed.
"What wasn't what you meant?"
"No. I was thinking about how you laugh at my jokes, and you smile when you're nervous, and you like your coffee with seven sugars like I do. You're a beautiful person, inside and out, and I just... I've never met anyone even remotely like you." I opened Morgan's passenger door for her, and she meekly climbed inside. I ran around the vehicle and got in the driver's side. I was halfway back to her hotel before she spoke again.
"Thank you," she said. I looked at her, but she was staring straight ahead, expression neutral.
"For what? I was just stating a fact." She turned to me then, as I stopped at a red light, and she smiled. She had a beautiful smile.
"For being complicated, then." I laughed. I wished it was always that easy.